ten_fwd | Scuba diving and sandcastle building on Pacifica (open)

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Scuba diving and sandcastle building on Pacifica (open)

After everything that had been going on, Trip was eager for shore leave and Pacifica didn't disappoint. It was beautiful, with great weather, and the perfect place for a vacation. Not least was the chance to scuba dive. He hadn't even been swimming for a long time - despite Captain Archer's longing for a swimming pool on a starship, it just wasn't practical.

So he'd got himself some scuba diving gear and was now sitting on a white sandy beach, checking it over before he put it on. Since the water was warm, he was only wearing swimming trunks. Strapped to his wrist was a waterproof camera he'd got for free because it was broken - but it had been simple for him to fix.

Afterwards, he sat on the beach, dripping and looking out to sea. It was warm enough that he would dry off in the sun, and the views was amazing. After a few minutes rest, he went back closer to the water, to build a sandcastle.

ooc: Catch Trip before, after or even during scuba diving. Feel free to assume he's invited you along, even if you've never met.

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Walking along the beach, still in uniform, is Captain Willard Decker. He's mostly down here to scope out interesting places to visit before completely signing off for shore leave... Hence, the interesting choice of beachwear.

It's not long before he comes across Trip after his diving expedition. Smiling, he calls out. "Good afternoon. I take it the water's nice?"

Trip looked up and smiled back. "Beautifully warm. Just like home."

He recognised the uniform as being a Starfleet one, even if he couldn't place it. It seemed like the uniform had gone through quite a few redesigns in two hundred years. He stood up, so he didn't have to look up to talk to him.

"Planning on taking a swim?"

Will closes the distance so they're not shouting over the beach and disturbing anyone else.

"I was considering it. I've never had the oppertunity to visit Pacifica before." He looks around. "Although, all my friends said it was almost better than Risa."

"It's much better than Risa." Although maybe Trip wouldn't think that if on Risa he'd made it to any beaches. He'd been too busy trying to pick up women with Malcolm.

"I'd never heard of Pacifica," he admitted. "Are there many planets like this?"

She had found the beach herself, unaware he was under the waves as she settled herself at the water's edge. Her typical long clothes were replaced with a swimsuit from the replicator, and the tattoos usually hidden by her clothes were visible. Reeds and grasses marked her legs, along with some scarring from doctoring in a pre-tech world. Her arms were marked with sunbursts, and on her stomach, between the parts of her two-piece suit were the moon and stars. Every marking had a meaning, had a point to her people, was a way of identifying herself. She had seen tattoos that were fare more intricate than hers, among minotaurs, but few among humans.

She had a pack off to one side, well away from the water's edge. She herself was doing her exercises moving in and out of the wet sand, working through forms of a fighting style long dead before the Federation was born.

Trip swum back, until it was too shallow, then he was forced to stand up, and take his mask off. Then he found a woman exercising right in front of him. His feet sunk into the sand as he watched for a moment.

"What's that called?" he asked after a while, coming a bit closer."

As he came closer, she was aware of him, but she continued her forms until they came to a natural end. She came to a rest in a position called Stone Bench, which was a deep low squat that looked painful. She looked over at him then. "The stance, the form, or something else?" she asked calmly. As when she had been working out, there was no expression on her face.

"All of it." He ran a hand through his hair, so it would stop dripping over his face, and wondered if she was related to Vulcans.

No, but she had read about them and would be fascinated to meet one. "All of it?" she repeated. She was amused, but didn't show it. People were still meeting her here, she was still the only example of her society that existed. They needed to learn the culture, before they could learn the individual.

"The forms are modified from the Oneahn wrestling style that was in favor in Xa-On when before it fell." The single best bow to her mastery was the lack of emotion she showed with that sentence. Since being named a Master, she has failed in her Mastery twice. The first, and worst time, was when Xa-On fell. When she ran like a coward rather than standing with her Master and her family under the Roof of Lights. They died, and she spent the next 20 years, living as a coward, trying in vain to chase the belief that if she could teach Oneah values, if she could bring Oneah back that it would be okay that she had lived. That there was a reason she could ever have pride in herself again. And when she had realized she was living a lie, she had tried to die. Now... now she finally understood what Alik and Laik were trying to teach her, she learned a truth about truth itself. Now she taught Oneahn culture, yes, but not to rebuild it anew, not to preserve it whole cloth, but because she taught all the lessons she learned to those who needed them, adapted so that their ears would hear the deeper truths.

The fall at Xa-On had defined her life, and she still mourned every Oneahn life lost that day. And now? Now she mourned what could have been had the invaders come in peace instead, had she been able to teach them. She mourned those who killed her family and friends. There were few greater sorrows in her life than Xa-On.

And none of that showed in her face, or sounded in her voice.

"The core philosophy is called Diamond Mind, and it is the foundation upon which my people built their civilization. I have offered to teach a class in Diamond Mind to those who are interested, and that offer has been accepted." No one had shown up however. That was fine, she used the time to meditate. "I am not opposed, however, to discussing Oneahn philosophy on a less formal basis, or holding individual classes."

Trip was not at all sure he'd have the patience for that, but he was curious to know more. "Diamond Mind? Sounds like it keeps the mind sharp," he said with a grin.

She was glad she kept her face blank, it saved her from having to decide if that was funny or horrifyingly bad. Rather than defining it, she felt what she felt, then put it aside to examine later. "Should I take that as interest?" she asked. Luke. Beverly. Now perhaps this man. She might yet have a class after all.

He'd have got more reaction to that from a Vulcan. Which just meant that he was determined to get a reaction somehow. "Yes," he replied. "I'm curious to know if it's different to other philosophies in other civilizations I've met."

"Not knowing the other civilizations and philosophies that you have encountered," yes, she was subtly critiquing his word choice there, "the discussion would have to go in both directions. Else I might miss explaining something that you would have considered crucial. As I also enjoy learning about other cultures, however, and the stories therein, I would happily have that conversation with you, if you wish."

She says happily. There is still no expression, no change to the tone of her voice.

"Alright." He could see the logic in that. "Let's sit down first." He started heading up the beach to the dry sand, which would be softer to sit on.

She nodded and gathered her pack, moving smoothly to follow him. She let him choose where he wished, and sat when he did, setting her pack in her lap. "Where would you like me to start?"

Trip put his mask down beside him. "The beginning?" He had so many questions it was hard to know where to start. "Why's it called Diamond Mind? How do the exercises help?"

The beginning? In the beginning the first world, whatever it might be was created, somehow, or whatever created it was created. She could debate prime mover theory until time itself ended, but clearly that wasn't what he was after. She was glad he actually clarified with more direct questions.

As questions went, when he got to them, his were fairly decent. And the question as to why it was called Diamond Mind was not one she was often asked. The other? Asked by Oneahn youngsters who were tired for generations. Both questions, she was sure, would lead each to more questions.

"I shall answer one, and when I have finished, if the other is what you next wish to ask, I will answer that, if another has come up in the course of my answer, you can of course, change which I answer next. I am willing to answer both, but to attempt to answer both at the same time would be as confusing as if I had begin at the vague and unspecified beginning."

She considered her words, chose them with care.

"The exercises are useful in a great many ways," she said finally. "They are an outward and tangible expression of the mastery you gain over the self, the organization, control, and clarity of mind. To have Diamond mind is to master yourself, and to Master a great many disciplines in the process." He might no longer need the other question to be answered, but she was prepared if he still did. "Science, math, philosophy, wrestling, art, music, all work together, all are needed. In practicing the forms of Diamond Mind, the physical forms, you are practicing that mastery. If you would allow, I would make a demonstration."

She rose then carefully sank back down, not into a seated position, but into a very deep stance that looked like a very uncomfortable squat. "This is called Stone Bench, and it is one of the first stances we teach, because it is one of the most painful." She seemed completely at ease. "It does serve a purpose, as a defensible position, as it is nearly impossible to trip someone who has mastered Stone Bench when they are in that form. If the ground is firm under them, it takes much effort to push them down, and they are little likely to allow you that opportunity. You may take the stance, if you wish," she added.

"When our youths first attempt Stone Bench, slippers are placed upon their legs, they are bade to stand without allowing the slippers to fall. Most cannot, if they have not been taught separately. Stone Bench is, as I said, uncomfortable the first time, the first hundred times it is taken, when done properly. And in truth, there are better ways we teach to keep from being removed from your stance, that work in any stance. But the rooted walk comes later. It is enough that students accept the reasoning that this is a defensible position. As students who are not yet masters, it is their inclination to argue when something does not make sense. And when one has the vantage of wisdom, such argument can be, in its time, itself wise. However, students need to learn what is learned here, and what is truly being learned is far more than a stance. This form is used to teach a student how to master their own pain."

She held her hands before her. "The last class I taught, in a single session half of them proved they could stand in this stance as long as I required. When they first tried, all save two lasted less than a minute. It is not torture, and it is not prolonged. But to master Diamond Mind, Stone Bench must be first itself mastered. I can teach you the trick, if you wish it. As you know it is not actually about being unable to be pushed over, the ground being sand under our feet will hamper little. I have no slipper, but at a touch, I can tell if your legs do tremble. A sign of Mastery is being able to stand as long as needed in this way, where they do not. You may feel mine if you wish, they move naught at all, save when I tell them to."

Trip wasn't terribly fond of pain and what he didn't like about it at all was making it worse and pretending it wasn't there. He wasn't sure about touching her legs - T'Pol must be rubbing off on him.

"It looks hard," he said, although he stood up and gave it a go. He looked over at her as he positioned his feet and then squatted down. And fell backwards onto the sand. Not that it bothered him - he sat up, laughing. "Is there a Carbon Mind, that's a little easier?"

She considered allowing a hint of a smile to show, and decided against it. Let him learn the culture first. "It is difficult, what worth doing is ever aught?" she asked simply, still in the position. "This is but one of the steps to Mastery, and it is one of the first, and one of the most important."

She rose smoothly, then sank down into a sitting position. "But you are not my student, and this is a discussion, not a classroom, we can, of course, move on from here."

"True," he agreed. When she sat down he said, "Keeping the discussion to things I can do sitting down would help." He grinned. "So what's the second step, once you can master your pain?"

"That depends on the student, and," she admitted, "on the teacher. Usually I proceed to music and wrestling, but then my classes are rarely typical. My home was destroyed before I had much opportunity to teach," she explained, seeming emotionless. She wasn't. The words hurt every time she said them, but while she felt her emotions, she had mastered them, and they did not master her. She would not let her control break. Gur had judged her Mastery when they met, based on the fact that she showed emotion, judged and found her lacking. At the time she had been furious, though she mastered herself so that it did not show. Now, she was ashamed. She held that to the side as well. "So most of my students were as you are, unfamiliar with the culture that permeated my people from birth. It makes it necessary to be more flexible in the curriculum."

She considered the lessons she had taken as a child herself. "Music and mathematics, philosophy, science, magic, languages, there were all things I started learning before Mastery, before wrestling, that all became one with Mastery. It is hard, even after all these years of trying, to tease them into separate strands."

Trip looked sympathetic, though, at the mention of the destruction of her home.

"Magic?" he asked, surprised. Everything else seemed pretty normal, but magic was one he hadn't been expecting. Especially since he still wasn't sure he believed in it. Sure, he'd seen a demonstration, but thinking back, it was easy to imagine that he'd missed something. "Magic is real in your world?"

She nodded. "It is always possible that in this day and age most of what I deemed magic would be reclassified as another kind of science. They tried at the academy, and as I have much knowledge, but a limited aptitude, there was not much I could show to make the argument. In fact, there were only two artifacts in my possession that they could not explain, though I did not allow them to take them away to study."

The risk that they would break them had been the logical reason she had given, because there was a logical reason, she could allow herself to follow the emotional desire. Had it been emotional only, she would have allowed it, even if she hated it. But it also served to show she was firm on somethings, served to keep them from opening the cocoons. She was not yet sure this world was safe for her family, they would sleep until she was.

"'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic'," he quoted. "I guess to people a few centuries ago almost everything on the Enterprise would be magic. The holodeck still seems like magic to me," he added, smiling. If he hadn't seen something similar on the Xyrillian ship he'd have been more amazed. Although no less likely to want to know how it worked.

"I have heard that quote. On my world there were peoples still mystified by the rise and setting of the sun who could not hear, nor did they wish to hear, any evidence that it was not, in fact, the sun that was moving. Some people will be willing to learn, some people will only argue, and some will realize that it is all, in the end, academic."

"There are always people not worth arguing with." Trip screwed up his face. "They think they're right and can't be convinced otherwise, even with evidence." He was thinking of Terra Prime, who were convinced humans didn't need alien help.

"Most people on my world believe the sun doesn't move and the world isn't flat." He rather hoped all of them believed that, but wouldn't be completely surprised to find there were a few people who didn't.

"And you?" she said, "You are not on your world now, presumably."

"No, I'm on an alien world two hundred years in my future," he said cheerfully. The alien world part he liked and the two hundred years into the future part wasn't all bad.

She nodded. "And I am on an a world alien to me, after sleeping for more centuries than can easily be counted. Is that magic? Or science? We are unable to tell."

"Science," he said confidently. Everything could be explained by science, as long as you understood the science. "Sleeping for centuries sounds like a fairy tale."

"And traditionally such stories are the realm of magic, not science. Yet here I am," she said simply.

"True," he agreed. "It's still hard to believe in magic without evidence." Just being told about it wasn't quite the same.

"As many believe it is hard to believe in science without the same," she said simply.

He admitted the truth in that with a tilt of his head. "I guess science is hard to prove unless you understand it."

She nodded. "As is magic."

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Scuba diving and sandcastle building on Pacifica (open)

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Sorry about the wall of text here.

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